1. Field
An apparatus consistent with exemplary embodiments generally relates to a connector, and more particularly, to a connector structure that transmits and receives audio/video (AV) data at high speed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of connectors for physical connections between devices have been recently developed. For example, a connector design for a wire interface, such as a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI), a digital video/visual interface (DVI), a mobile high-definition link (MHL) or the like, has been developed. The HDMI is one of incompressible digital video/audio interface standards. The MHL is similar to the HDMI and is a high-speed wire interface standard that connects a mobile device to a TV. The DVI is a wire interface standard that digitizes a video image, and transmits and receives the digitized video image. A connector that complies with standards as described above may rapidly transmit and receive high-capacity data between a multimedia source, such as a smartphone, a set-top box, a digital versatile disc (DVD) player, or the like, and sink devices such as an audio/video (AV) device, a monitor, a digital TV, etc.
The connector transmits and receives data through a connector plug, and transmits and receives the data through a connector socket (i.e., a connector receptacle) that is connected to the connector plug. Since the connector plug and the connector socket are to be physically combined with each other or connected to each other, the connector plug includes a plurality of pins, and the connector socket includes a plurality of pin holes corresponding to the plurality of pins. If the connector plug and the connector socket are combined with each other, the pins of the connector plug are inserted into the pin holes of the connector socket that respectively correspond to the pins.
However, since a direction in which the connector needs to be combined is determined as an upper direction, a lower direction, or the like, it is inconvenient for a user to combine the connector according to a particular direction. For example, if a connector plug having pins arranged in the order from 1 to 10 is combined with a connector socket corresponding to the connector plug, a first pin of the connector plug may be inserted into a first pin hole of the connector socket. Therefore, the direction in which the connector is connected is fixed, and thus it is inconvenient to use the connector.
An existing HDMI connector is designed to enable one differential pair pin set, which includes a + pin, a − pin, and a ground pin for transmitting and receiving AV data, to have a transmission and reception speed of 6 Gbps. Since the existing HDMI connector has three high-speed data transmission and reception pairs, the existing HDMI is mainly appropriate for transmitting and receiving full HD (1080p) of 60 Hz and may transmit and receive only 2D image data of maximum 4K. However, recent developments in image technologies demand a new connector structure that may support a 4K-3D image, an 8K-2D image, an 8K-3D image, or the like.
Therefore, there is a need for a connector structure that may efficiently transmit and receive high-capacity data and which is convenient to use for a user.